Rikuzentakata, Japan – A Japanese family visits the family grave, overlooking the barren expanse of land at Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, March 11, 2012. Memorial ceremonies were held throughout Japan to mark the one year anniversary of the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the country’s northeastern region, killing just over 19,000 people and unleashing the world’s worst nuclear crisis in a quarter century. The quake was the strongest recorded in the nation’s history, and set off a tsunami that towered more than 65 feet in some spots along the northeastern coast, destroying thousands of homes and wreaking widespread destruction. (Photo by Natsuki Sakai/AFLO)

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Rikuzentakata, Japan – A lone Japanese man offers a prayer on an empty lot where his friend’s home once was in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, March 11, 2012. (Photo by Natsuki Sakai/AFLO)